An Israeli human rights group has called for an immediate military investigation into the deaths of two wounded and unarmed Palestinians shot during an army raid in the occupied West Bank this month. B'Tselem, an independent group that monitors Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories, said eyewitnesses had described a sequence of events that contradicted the Israeli military's account of the raid on November 7-8, and that there was evidence Israeli forces had engaged in unlawful killing. "B'Tselem's investigation indicates that Salim Abu al-Heijah and Mahmoud Abu Hassan were executed by soldiers while they lay wounded, unarmed and posed no risk to the soldiers," the group said in a report posted on its Web site. "Even if the operation in Yamun was part of combat rather than law-enforcement activities, as Israel often claims, the killing of the two men constituted a grave breach of the laws of war in international humanitarian law. ... http://today.reuters.co.uk

Now that George Bush’s marbled columns of support have turned to sand, there is talk of impeachment and, perhaps, even his criminal prosecution, along with that of his coterie of unprincipled administration thugs and advisors who helped turn America into the 21st century equivalent of 1939 Germany. If Bill Clinton was to be impeached for lying about his oval office peccadilloes, the bill of particulars against Mr. Bush and his fellow barbarians rises to exponential levels of insistence.I refuse to take part in this whooping and hollering. It is driven by the same refusal of men and women to examine what they have made of themselves that allowed Mr. Bush to mobilize their “dark side” energies into murderous attacks upon hundreds of thousands of innocent people; to torture and detain – without hopes of trial – anyone the administration saw fit to deprive of their liberties; and to turn America into the kind of dystopian police-state that...http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer148.html

Persons who come into unauthorized possession of classified information must abide by the law. That applies to academics, journalists, professors, whatever. —Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who will preside over the case of United States of America v. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. This is the first prosecution ever of private citizens for receiving and distributing classified information. —Floyd Abrams, "The State of Free Speech," New York Law Journal, October 18. These charges potentially eviscerate the primary function of journalism—to gather and publicize information of public concern—particularly where the most vulnerable information to the public . . . is what the government wants to conceal. —Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, with which this Voice columnist is affiliated. ...http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0646,hentoff,75002,6.html

A woman hospitalized after being found near death next to the bodies her four young children was arrested Thursday for their deaths, police said. Angelica Alvarez remained hospitalized two days after she was found unconscious with the children in the basement of their home, police Capt. Steven Mock said. He did not give any details on what caused the deaths of the two girls and two boys, ages 2 to 8. Autopsies determined they died of asphyxia. Mock said Alvarez, 27, was in custody at Elkhart General Hospital. He would not give details on her injuries, but said she was expected to survive. "I know she's improving," he said. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/17/national/main2192840.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2192840

The Pentagon announced Friday that 57,000 U.S. troops, including five combat brigades, have been told to deploy to Iraq early next year - a move that will maintain current force levels there. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed the deployment orders for about 20,000 soldiers from active duty Army brigades based in North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, Kansas and Italy. Another 10,000 reserves and 27,000 active duty troops are scheduled to go to Iraq in smaller units. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman also said that 1,500 soldiers in the South Carolina National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team have been told they will deploy to Afghanistan early next year. The deployments, which will serve as replacements for troops leaving Iraq, will largely maintain the current force level of 141,000. The moves were initially described by military officials last week, but the specific units were announced Friday....http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6222006,00.html

Details on House races in which the outcome remained undecided: - New Mexico, 1st District: Republican Rep. Heather Wilson led Democrat Patricia Madrid by just over 1,100 votes out of more than 200,000 cast. Officials hoped to finish counting roughly 1,500 remaining votes by late Friday. - North Carolina, 8th District: Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican, led Democrat Larry Kissell by about 450 votes. About 1,500 provisional ballots remained to be counted. County election boards met Friday to count provisional ballots and hoped to certify results. - Ohio, 2nd District: Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Republican who called decorated Vietnam veteran Rep. John Murtha a coward, was ahead of Democrat Victoria Wulsin by about 2,800 votes. Workers were to begin counting as many as 10,000 provisional and absentee ballots next week. ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6221999,00.html